It’s kind of impossible to objectively rank strongest hurricanes. Meteorologists probably use atmospheric pressure but when communicating with the public, the focus is always on wind speed. Storm surge matters way more in some places than others. Diameter can make a Cat 2 cause more damage than a small Cat 4 that hits a less populated area. There’s so many different variables.
A lot of Helene’s danger was that it was so fast-moving that it made it inland to places that aren’t prepared. Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston so much because it was so slow moving. Pick your poison when it comes to movement speed, I guess? 🤷
It’s kind of impossible to objectively rank strongest hurricanes. Meteorologists probably use atmospheric pressure but when communicating with the public, the focus is always on wind speed. Storm surge matters way more in some places than others. Diameter can make a Cat 2 cause more damage than a small Cat 4 that hits a less populated area. There’s so many different variables.
A lot of Helene’s danger was that it was so fast-moving that it made it inland to places that aren’t prepared. Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston so much because it was so slow moving. Pick your poison when it comes to movement speed, I guess? 🤷
Wikipedia uses atmospheric pressure and wind speed, FWIW: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlantic_hurricane_records